Boyfriend charged with killing pregnant Calif. teen

May. 25, 2010 10:07 AMAssociated Press

FONTANA, Calif. - Police aided by dogs and a sheriff's search-and-rescue team returned to a Rialto landfill Tuesday to search for the body of a pregnant 17-year-old whose boyfriend allegedly confessed to killing her.

Diggers searched for Anyssia Escamilla's body for more than 12 hours on Monday and planned to do the same Tuesday in a 50-by-25-yard area filled with tons of trash. If nothing is found, they will move to another landfill in Corona, Fontana police Sgt. Billy Green said.

"We're cautiously hopeful," he said. "We realize the enormity of the task before us, but we're going to do everything we can to bring some closure to the family."

Escamilla, the mother of a 3-year-old son from another relationship, never returned home from Bloomington High School on May 11. Investigators interviewed her 18-year-old boyfriend, Jesus Avitia Jr.

Avitia told police that he killed the Bloomington girl and placed her body in a trash can near his Fontana home, Green said.

Her body apparently was never seen by trash-truck drivers who use a robotic arm to empty cans. The trash was taken to one of the two dumps.

Avitia was charged Monday with murdering Escamilla and her fetus. She was three months pregnant.

The charges carry a special-circumstance allegation of multiple murder, but prosecutors had not decided whether to seek the death penalty, said Susan Mickey, a spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County district attorney's office.

Avitia remained jailed Tuesday. Mickey did not immediately know whether he had a lawyer.

Detectives did not know how Escamilla was killed because Avitia gave conflicting statements, Green said.

Investigators also were trying to determine a motive, though Avitia indicated he was unhappy that his girlfriend was carrying his child, Green said.

Escamilla's family said Avitia's family didn't approve of him seeing a girl who already had a child. Her parents said the two had been dating for about a year.